Eon productions, which owns the James Bond film franchise, will announce the star is playing an unknown character called Franz Oberhauser, son of the late Hans Oberhauser, a ski instructor who acted as a father figure to Bond.

But senior sources believe the casting is a double bluff worthy of 007 himself and that Waltz is actually playing Blofeld. One Hollywood source, who asked not to be named, said: ‘Christoph Waltz is playing Blofeld in the next Bond film. The tone of the 007 films has changed significantly in recent years and the producers have changed the character to fit in with the new-look 007.

Due to last year’s court decision which has handed over the character rights back to Eon, this casting could very well be true. And while Austin Powers may have delivered one too many send-ups to the classic villain, the possibility of Blofeld returning to the Bond series has me giddy. It’ll sure be interesting to see how this all turns out. With Daniel Craig re-invigorating the James Bond franchise over the past decade, one can only wonder what Blofeld would be like in this world. A badass baldie, that’s what!

Also, I think that Austin Powers pulled more from Her Majesty’s Secret Service. The get up that George Lazenby wore is pretty much what Austin wore. Plus Mini Me in the baby carriage was taken from the Lazenby movie as well. While the Austin Power movies pulled from a lot of different Bond movies Goldfinger and Her Majesty’s Secret Service got pulled from a lot.